Şaban Karataş (1928–2016) was a Turkish academic and conservative politician who was the director general of the

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish : ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio provider in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio ...

(TRT) between 1976 and 1977. He served at the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

in the late 1970s and 1990s. He joined different right-wing political parties, including the Justice Party, the

Welfare Party The Welfare Party ( tr, Refah Partisi, RP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal, and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, National Order Party (MNP) and Nationa ...

and the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...

Early life and education

Karataş was born in a village of Ereğli, Konya, in 1928. He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vo ...

in 1953 receiving a degree in

agricultural engineering Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil ...

. He obtained a Ph.D. in

zootechnics Zootechnics is the art of managing domestic or captive animals, including handling, breeding, and keeping. Based on: genetics, reproduction (animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are ...

from the same university in 1958. He also received a Ph.D. in statistics and pursued his post-doctorate studies in

biometry Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experimen ...

and animal breedingat

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, USA, between 1958 and 1961.

Career and activities

Karataş joined his alma mater as a research assistant on 30 June 1955. Then he began to teach at Atatürk University and was promoted to associated professor of

biostatistics Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experime ...

on 29 November 1962. He served as the chair of the Zootechnics Department at Ankara University between 18 March 1965 and 30 June 1966 and became a full professor on 30 June 1966. Then he worked as the dean of the Faculty of Science and Literature and the Faculty of Agriculture at Atatürk University. Karataş was appointed director general of the TRT in January 1976 replacing Nevzat Yalçıntaş in the post. Karataş's tenure ended on 22 June 1977 when the Council of State annulled his appointment as a result of

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 1 ...

's complaint against him and the TRT. His successor in the post was Cengiz Taşer. Karataş was elected as a member of the Parliament in the 1979

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

for the Justice Party representing Konya. His tenure was very brief due to the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

on 12 September 1980. Following the coup Karataş was among the Justice Party members whose political activities were banned by the military rule. After his ban was lifted in 1987 Karataş served as the head of the Ankara branch of the Intellectuals' Hearth. He became a member of the Parliament in the 1995 general election for the Welfare Party from Ankara. He joined the Nationalist Movement Party when the Welfare Party was banned in January 1998. Karataş's tenure at the Parliament ended in 1999 when he did not win his seat from Konya in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Karataş was also a member of the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The university emphasizes research and education in engineering a ...

's board of trustees. He was the founding chair of the

Bezmialem Vakıf University Bezmialem Vakıf University, originating from the roots of Gureba-i Müslimin, the first modern hospital of the Ottoman Empire that was founded in 1845 by Bezmiâlem Mother Sultana, was transformed into a university in 2010. Bezmialem is one o ...

's board of trustees.

Work and views

Karataş published a book entitled ''İstatistiğe Giriş'' () in 1963. He also published a book on his term at the TRT entitled ''TRT Kavgası'' (). Karataş was respectful for the will of the nation and extremely loyal to the Republic of Turkey, but he was not a

Kemalist Kemalism ( tr, Kemalizm, also archaically ''Kamâlizm''), also known as Atatürkism ( tr, Atatürkçülük, Atatürkçü düşünce), or The Six Arrows ( tr, Altı Ok), is the founding official ideology of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher ...

Personal life and death

Karataş was married and had two children. He died in Ankara on 14 February 2016 and was buried in the Gölbaşı cemetery on 16 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karatas, Saban 20th-century Turkish non-fiction writers 21st-century Turkish non-fiction writers 1928 births 2016 deaths Ankara University alumni Nationalist Movement Party politicians Welfare Party politicians Justice Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Ankara Deputies of Konya Members of the 16th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th government of Turkey Turkish Radio and Television Corporation people Academic staff of Ankara University Academic staff of Atatürk University People from Ereğli, Konya Cornell University alumni Turkish statisticians 20th-century Turkish engineers Agricultural engineers Turkish academic administrators